One of 5,000 originally printed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, the book was discovered in an estate auction as part of a box of books that sold for $220. It once belonged to a man named Guy H. Bevington (1889-1958) of West Bridgewater, Pa., who wrote his name in the book.

Prior to the auction, the estimated value of the book was said to be between $40,000 and $60,000. The final bid was $36,000 and a buyer's premium of 25 percent ($9,000) was added to the final price.